AppleDash 100 Themes, 1 Love
by Peri.Owl
Summary: A challenge into exploring the complex love between an earth and pegasus pony. Contains AU and varying themes
1. Hurt

A.N. Just a HUGE exercise to get into AppleDash shipping/writing. Some of the following drabbles (or tidbits) may be fleshed out (and rewritten) into much bigger stories.

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><p>Applejack woke with a start at the loud crash from the orchard, a very different sound to that of the thunder storm. Shaking her head to banish the limited traces of sleep from her mind, she rushed to the window and stared in horror at the sight of one of her beloved trees alight in the raging rain. Galloping out of the house, the work horse hurried out, preparing the hose to stop the inferno spreading. Controlling the water as best she could, Applejack slowly contained the fire to the one poor tree. With a sigh, she looked upon the once glorious green tree, reduced to a burnt, barren shadow of itself.<p>

Ear twitching at the sound of feeble breathing, the young mare turned to the source and ceased breathing. Curled up, with burn marks over her body, the light blue Pegasus looked far from her usual confident presence.

"Dash!" Applejack rushed over, checking her dear friend over.

"...AJ..."

"What in tarnation were ya doing out here!" Careful of her wounds, Applejack lifted Rainbow Dash onto her back, carrying her to the safety of the house.

"I heard about the storm and I saw the tree alight...I was trying to put it out..."

"...ya'll too loyal fer ya own good Dash." Hurrying as best she could, the earth pony took her Pegasus into safety.


	2. Family

Hooves dangling over the edge of her cloud, Rainbow Dash sadly watched the Apple Family in one of their fields. Chores had been finished for the day and the three siblings were playing a game of horseshoes in an empty part of the orchard, Granny Smith watching from her rocking chair as she knitted Applebloom's new winter scarf.

Normally the sight of Applejack teaching her younger sister how to outwit their older brother was heart warming, but today it just left a cold feeling in the pegasus' chest. She had no-one to go to. No-one to congratulate her on a good day's work or scold her when she really messed up. She had her friends, but no family to go to. She was alone with her tears.

Dash cried out in surprise when something landed on her head with a painful THUD. Rubbing the sore spot, the blue mare grabbed the offending projectile and discovered it was a golden horseshoe.

"Ya'll gonna get down 'ere 'n' join in or am ah gonna 'ave ta come up there and get ya, ya silly pony?" Rainbow looked over the edge of her cloud, meeting the sparkling emerald eyes of her dearest friend.

"But...you're having family time, aren't you?" She tried to hide her feelings in her voice, but the orange pony knew her too well.

Smiling, Applejack shouted up again, "Yeah, which is why ya need ta get down 'ere stat Dash!"

A few tears slipped from the magenta eyes, but the happy tears followed her as she glided down to spend time with the Apple family.


	3. Comfort

"Consarnit Big Mac ah'm fine, at least lemme walk around tha' house!"

"Nope."

"But-"

"**Nope**."

The orange pony sighed and sprawled back out on her bed as her older brother wandered out of the room, leaving her alone with her boredom. Having done _something_ to her lower back, Applejack had been sentenced to two days bed-rest at the very least.

It was only three hours into it and she was already itching to go outside again.

"It's not like you to be lazing around."

Startled, the orange pony looked to the source of the voice, but relaxed upon realising it was just Rainbow Dash resting on the windowsill.

"Ah don't wanna be lazy, but ah'm stuck on bed rest until tha doc and Big Mac say so." Brow furrowed, Applejack resumed her former position on her mattress.

Hearing Rainbow's hooves clicking against her floorboards didn't faze Applejack, but she opened her eyes in confusion when she felt the mattress dip under the pegasus' weight.

Snuggling with her work horse, Rainbow gave a cheeky smile, "Now I have a captive audience to talk to."

Applejack couldn't help the chuckle she gave, but settled down to listen to her special mare.


	4. Media Influence

A.N. AU Ponies. Who is who should be easy to figure out :)

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><p>AJ hated what her love had become. And it was all the stupid, <em>stupid<em> media's fault.

Many had been surprised when famous country singer Applessa 'AJ' Jack had announced about which way her barn door swung and that she was in a relationship with rival artist Rayne Bowdash, but the fans continued attending concerts, and many loved the new joint concerts the two held. This would have been fine, if it was not for the fact that the media had changed their old tag line of 'Rayne on hot men' to 'Rayne on hot women'. Now, rather than gyrating against her lead guitarist (which AJ could handle, since he was a mutual friend), her girlfriend was rubbing herself against any and all female dancers in as little clothing as possible without a lawsuit being filed. Sure, she knew Rayne was loyal, but she could not help the doubt that crept in as she saw yet another performance which her love forced her to watch so she could boast about how popular she was.

Tonight had been the final straw to break the camel's back. Rayne had kissed the dancer, on stage, in front of all to see, mere moments before AJ was meant to join her for a duet. Tears streamed down the country girl's cheeks, before she turned around and walked away. Away from the stage, away from her fans, away from her heartbreak.

Her brother, spotting AJ's state, quickly fell into line with her, "AJ, where're ya'll going?"

"Home Big Mac, ah'm a country girl, Rayne's a city gal, we don't belong together, ah see that now."

"But what about yer fans?"

"Ah'll figure summin' out, but ah can't take it anymore. Ah'm going home and ah'm going now."

Seeing his dear sister's tears, Macintosh simply followed.

The two singers truly were a sad ballad.


	5. Loss

A.N. Continuation of Media Influence. Just in case:

Rarianne=Rarity  
>Flarissa=Fluttershy<br>Twi-Ling=Twilight  
>Blossom=Apple Bloom<br>Scotia=Scootaloo  
>Swann=Sweetie Belle<p>

The rest should be easy

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><p>Rayne ran her fingers through her hair, storming towards the lift in the apartment building, irritated beyond belief. How could AJ have let her fans down like that, in the middle of a concert! How could she let her down? There was no feeling more uncomfortable than waiting for your duet partner to come onstage, only to be told by one of the technical staff that she and her older brother had both left a few minutes earlier.<p>

Jabbing the button in the lift for the penthouse suite, Rayne folded her arms, glaring at the opposite wall in the lift. She was going to have to talk to her lover tomorrow about what was going on. Tonight she needed to calm down though.

Wandering into her home, she pet her tortoise Tank before checking her answer phone.

_You have 5 new messages. _

_Message one._

"MEANIE!" _Beep!_

Rayne blinked in confusion. That was defiantly Pinkie's voice, but what on earth had she meant by that? She shrugged: Pinkie was random at the best of times.

_Message two._

"Rayne, I'm normally the last one to complain, but really, shame on you! Do NOT come crying to me because you will get no sympathy!" _Beep!_

Rayne paused in the process of feeding Tank. That was very out of sorts for Rarianne. She couldn't think of anything that could get her riled up except from having the three young girls Blossom, Scotia and Swann over for a sleepover and she'd just had her turn. Resuming weighing out her pet's food, Rayne decided to ask Rarianne about it later.

_Message three._

"...Rayne? ...I thought you were better than that... I'm very disappointed... I'm sorry if that upsets you." _Beep!_

The singer slumped onto the sofa, now really confused. Flarissa seldom said a bad word about anyone, especially not directly to them. Or to their answer phone in this case. What was going on?

_Message four._

"Rayne... you should talk to AJ. I...really don't know what to say to you." _Beep!_

AJ? Rayne knew Twi-Ling was a smart cookie, but why would she need to talk to AJ. Then she remembered AJ abandoning her, but banished the thought. Twi-Ling couldn't mean that, could she?

_Message five._

"Hey Rayne... ah thought ah should let ya know. Ah'm going back. Ta farming and tha' ah mean. Ah've quit tha music stuff...and... ah've quit you. Ah thought ah was all ya needed. Ah guess ah was wrong. Don't come after me. Ah...ah love you. Bye Rayne." _Beep! End of messages._

It all dawned on her. The kiss she'd done for the fans. The one with a dancer and _not_ AJ. The country singer must have seen it from the wings before she went on. All of their friends saw it on television. That was what all the messages were about. In a split second of stupidity and improvisation, she had thrown everything that truly mattered away.

She was alone again.

Rayne curled up on her sofa and cried.


	6. Predators & Prey

The tree reverberated in place, the apples falling from its branches as it was kicked with more force than was quite necessary. Brow knitted together in annoyance, Applejack continued about her duty, kicking the apple trees viciously.

Worried for her marefriend's state of mind, Rainbow Dash glided down and landed just out of kicking range. "What's wrong AJ?"

"Appa-worms! Ma orchard is under threat from appa-worms!"

"Appa-worms?"

"Appa-worms! Tha' bligh'ers eat tha apples and then kill tha tree! Ah 'ave ta harvest these apples before thay target 'em!"

"Need some help?"

"PLEASE!"

With a quick salute, Rainbow Dash swapped the full baskets on Applejack's cart for empty ones and flew the freshly harvested apples to safety.

Applejack smiled. With her cyan love helping her, maybe she would be able to save the harvest from the pesky appa-worms.


	7. Belonging

A.N. Very short, wanted to experiment with just dialogue for this

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><p>"There, all done AJ!"<p>

"Ah'm a might grateful fer ya help with tha dishes Dash. Ya'll didn't have ta."

"You invited me here to live with you; it's only fair I help out."

"But you're already helpin' me out in tha orchard, ya don't need ta do anything else."

"But...I want to fit in with how your family works. You might think I'm lazy but I'm going to help around the farm as long as I live here."

"Ya know sugar, ah think ya'll fit in just fine."


	8. Illegal

"Are the cops after you? Because it's illegal to look that good!"

The cowpony paused in mid buck to look at Rainbow Dash in confusion, "Begging ya pardon?"

The cyan pony paused in thought, hoof tapping her chin, "I'm sure I said it right... hmmm." With which, Dash sat on the grass beside Applejack and peeked into a small book practically screaming the title '_Pick-Up Lines: Guaranteed to Succeed!' _in neon pink lettering.

"Dash, ya'll realise-"

"AHA! If I could re-arrange the alphabet I'd put U and I together! Did that one work better?"

"Dash, ah'm already yours. Ya don't need ta chat me up."

Looking up from her book, Rainbow Dash looked into Applejack's eyes, which had softened with the love the two shared.

"...Heaven must be missing an angel, because I'm looking at her..."

Applejack giggled, "Now that was jus' plain corny Dash."

It may well have been, but the kiss on her cheek told Dash she'd said something right.


	9. Forgiveness

A.N. Continuation of Media Influence and Loss

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><p>AJ sighed in relief, having finished bringing in the last set of barrels in from where Big Macintosh had been working in the orchard and smiled. It had been two months since she'd returned, and after calling her manager, it was as if she had never been a singer. Now, she was back to being Applessa, apple farmer at Sweet Apple Acres.<p>

Her friends had been sad to hear that she would no longer be singing, but understood why, and visited whenever they could, which always brightened her mood. A sigh left her lips as she remembered the reason she was back home. The girls had all said they hadn't heard from Rayne since the fateful night, and she certainly hadn't attempted to contact AJ herself, which was probably for the best. But it seemed to look like she really was just a back-up plan.

She was jarred from her musings when she heard the loud ring of the gate bell, signalling that someone had driven in through the gates. Slightly surprised, as most visited before five pm, Applessa wandered through the barn to the car park, ready to greet whoever it was.

She recognised that Ferrari. She'd been naked in it many a time.

AJ stayed where she was as she watched Rayne get out of her stupidly expensive car and adjust her hair, before locking it and looking around. Having spotted the country girl, the new arrival swallowed nervously and walked over, hands in her jean pockets.

When she stood a few meters in front of her former lover, Rayne stopped, unsure how AJ would react to her, "...hey...long time no see AJ."

"What d'ya want? If it's about tha duets, ah ain't doing 'em no matter 'ow much ya pay me-"

"No! I mean...I didn't come here to discuss anything like that."

"Then out with it, ah ain't got all day. Some of us actually 'ave 'ard work ta do."

Rayne looked up a little from the ground. AJ was gloriously tan from her days in the sun with her beloved Stetson perched on her head. Hands resting on her hips, Rayne subtly admired the woman's figure, before swallowing, preparing to present her case.

"I know now my priorities."

"Good fer you."

"I quit the music industry."

"Whoopdy flip- begging yer pardon, but what did ya'll just say?"

Cautiously, the younger woman stepped closer to Applessa, "I was letting everything cloud my vision, from what was really important. I was too focused on getting more fans, when I should have been focused on someone else entirely. You might have quit me, but I _can't_ quit you. I know it's too late now, but I love you. I will give anything up for you AJ."

The blonde tried to hold back her tears, unsure if she could believe all that Rayne had said, "Ya...ya're telling me tha truth, right? Ya'll aren't just saying that to get me back, right?"

"I would never do that to you AJ. I hurt you once; I'm never going to do it again." Seeing the tears starting to run down the cowgirl's cheeks, Rayne stepped forward and pulled her into a hug, allowing AJ to use her shoulder to cry on.

"Ya'll betray me again and ah'll never let ya come back."

Rayne knew in her heart, she would never risk losing her AJ ever again.


	10. Bad Habits

_Pop!_

"ARGH! Dash quit tha' bleedin' noise!"

"Huh? What're you talking about?"

_Pop!_

"THAT! Ya bleedin' gum! If ya'll don't stop with it, ah'll MAKE ya stop!"

"Hmmm, shan't!"

_Pop!_

"...Dash, ah'll reward ya if ya get rid of that gum, and ah promise ya'll like it."

"Hmm. Okay."

...

"There, gone, now what's the-MPHM!"

...

...

"And ah'll give ya'll the rest if ya never chew or pop gum near me again."

Rainbow Dash never chewed or popped gum near Applejack again.


	11. Love

It was amazing to be in love, Dash decided.

When everypony was saying how much they needed a significant other, Dash had scoffed at them, stating that she didn't need somepony else tying her down and telling her what to do. But as she gazed at the slumbering Applejack next to her, she knew exactly who she needed, and she was there before her. She needed somepony to give her a fresh perspective, a well placed word when she needed it, a shoulder when she was down, and an open heart to warm her soul.

"...Dash...ya'll should stop staring at me and get some shut eye."

Giving the orange pony a tender smile, Rainbow Dash kissed her cheek and settled next to her, stroking the soft blonde mane, "I love you Applejack."

A tender smile in return, "Ah love you too." Applejack smiled playfully, "Ah'd love ya even more if ya got ta sleep."

With a soft chuckle, Rainbow settled next to her Applejack, and allowed her eyelids to slip shut.

It was amazing to be in love with Applejack, and to be loved in return.


	12. Goodbye

With a shrill screech of the brakes, the train slowly pulled into the Ponyville station, the carriages lit in the early morning by the magic lanterns. The train waited at the empty platform. Empty, except for five ponies.

With a sigh, Applejack turned to her family, putting on a brave face for them, "Ah'll be back before ya know it."

Running up to her, Applebloom hugged her older sister like her life depended on it, "Promise ta write me everyday sis, promise!"

Smiling sadly and holding the young filly close, the orange pony petted the red mane, "Ah promise 'Bloom, ah'll write ye every morning."

Carefully taking the crying pony from Applejack's embrace, Granny Smith gently smiled at her granddaughter, "Ya'll stay safe, ah know ya will, but tell me ya'll will."

"Ah will Granny."

Applejack smiled softly as she was enveloped in a tight hug and gently hugged her brother back, "Ya'll look after the farm while ah'm gone Mac?"

"E-eeyup."

Smiling gently as the stallion let her go, Applejack finally turned to the mare who had stolen her heart.

"AJ...I have something for you." Without any warning, Rainbow Dash wandered to Applejack's flank, and tied a new tail tie onto the blond, silky locks. It was red, just like her other one, but on it were two charms shaped like zap apples, along with a charm shaped like each of their cutie marks. Looking up at her lover, Applejack watched as a rare blush snuck onto the cyan pony's cheek. "J-Just a little something, you know."

Smiling as tears ran down her cheeks, the blonde quickly gave Dash a kiss, before looking into her eyes, "Ah love you Dash."

"I love you too AJ... goodbye Applejack..."

Gently nuzzling the saddened mare, Applejack put on a brave smile, "It ain't goodbye sugar, it's see ya later."

The porter coughed sharply and tapped his hooves, and the five knew, it was time. With a quick hug and kiss to all of her family, and to her mare, she turned and boarded the train, seconds before it began to pull out of the station. The train gave a shrill whistle, and began its moonlit journey.


End file.
